If you love the Enterprise…

I know. It was a reflex response. But that “debate” goes nowhere other than just repeating perspectives without one side or the other convincing the other of anything.

I talked about enhancing TOS long before TOS-R was even publicly announced. But even back then my thoughts on it were quite different than what was eventually done. I even had a preview of what the eventual arguments would be as I discussed the idea (in person) with friends who each fell into the different camps.

I suppose the most effective way to make my case would be to take an episode and enhance in the way I envision. But, again, thats a subject for another thread.

 

Is this video available elsewhere? Because I cannot watch it without allowing Facebook to spy on me and that's not going to happen.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Roddenberry-...4188&sprefix=roddenberry+vault,aps,102&sr=8-4

 

True. But it could have been nice to have a few extra shots of the 11 footer in the first two pilots. In “The Cage” we see the 11 footer only in the opening sequence, and outside of that it’s just glimpses of the 3 footer. We see more of the 11 footer in WNMHGB, but a couple of extra angles couldn’t have hurt. The ship struggling inside the barrier is just a reuse of “The Cage” opening sequence.

It all came down to time and money. A pity TOS didn’t have a bit more of both.

 

Since we're on the subject...

I don't have any inside information, but assume CBS Digital opted for simple CGI so as not to leap too far ahead of the 1960s VFX work. If so, it backfired and looked more "synthetic" than ever. The Enterprise isn't that "specular" (shiny). The artists for Star Trek Continues used a shadowless lighting that looked like the 1960s miniature. (The reason for all the "fill light" in the original miniature work was to avoid blue "spill light" that would make mattes harder to extract.)

I find it hard to believe that TOS-R CGI looks the way it does for budgetary reasons, as so much effort was expended everywhere else.

 

I agree. Too bad the footage wasn't used first time around. But using it for TOS-R would trigger the opposing desire to keep the original—editing, pacing—the same. As fans we get to enjoy the raw footage anyway, just as we can go back and watch NASA Apollo footage that was shot in 70mm at the time. (Available on Blu-ray. Looks awesome.)

 

Now Tallguy and Aridas would know more about this—but there was a turning shot of the production version of the 11-footer (which looked quite beige).

It was all one shot, but chopped up…
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/video-tos-complete-enterprise-vfx-library-shots.282692/

It was called “Turn to Bridge” here
http://www.trekplace.com/tosfxcatalog.html


Later attempts with a big
model by fans:

 

That's amazing. Thanks for posting this.

 

Well this is a nice way to wake up! I really should pick up the Roddenberry Vault while I still can.

Looking at the nacelle lighting in these 1st season shots got me thinking. (A dangerous pastime, I know.) I have always assumed that the FX teams simply got better at shooting the nacelle FX in season 2 than they were in season 1. But what if the case is actually that the nacelle lights were reworked / overhauled for season 2 to be more visible and consistent, giving us the more familiar spinning effect that people try so hard now to recreate?

For instance look at 2:25ish.

OTOH the lights in Space Seed at 3:50 look more like what we are used to.

The shot at 6:00 from the Where No Man Has Gone Before shoot is interesting. It's a bit like a shot that only shows up in Metamorphosis. Both of them think they can get away with nobody noticing the missing box on the port side of the sensor dish. And they did, because I never noticed it until someone pointed it out to me!

Interesting to see just how far they could actually get away from the 11 footer and then figure out where they had to start zooming out from the footage rather than the model, like in Where No Man.

3:45: "These shuttlecraft markings only appeared in 'The Menagererie, Part I,' Season 1". I am astonished that they actually filmed a new FX shot for The Menagererie!

While I find the work on TOS-R disappointing I will always point out that it was made on a budget and a schedule that none of the fan films ever had to face. 78 episodes! (Or whatever it comes out to when you add in The Cage.) It's not like TOS-R was made by hacks who didn't love Star Trek. And none of it is "cringe-worthy". Could it be done better with 15 years of technical advances? Yup.

I will take this sage advice and abandon the topic.

It's impressive how many shots they took of the model for WNMHGB. To the point where unused shots keep turning up throughout the show. At a hasty count there are 18 shots of the 11 during the 1st season (including a bunch made just for Space Seed). With 8 being made (and used) in the second pilot alone. That's a hefty ratio for a single episode!

 

I never said it was. It is just that when the debate between CGI and traditional VFX techniques gets brought up, many will argue that it is the technology and not the artist.

 

The Folks at STC could see what TOS-R got wrong, and they had been able to consult with Doug Drexler. Not everything STC did was great, but a lot was and their shuttlecraft and hangar deck recreation was particularly cool.

STC likely didn’t have much in the way of budget, but they had time given they could spend months on a given episode. It’s also a testament to how far the technology has advanced that someone can make respectable vfx without studio resources.

And we have seen dedicated fans recreate TOS shots that look pretty much exactly like the original only the model (be it cgi or physical) is finished all around, free of production compromises and the image is clean and pristine without matte lines, noise or even much film grain. This is pretty much how I’d remaster TOS’ vfx shots.

 

The footage shows very clearly that the inner back surfaces of the nav deflector housing were the same color as the gold rings; not hull color, as the Smithsonian restoration has them.

One of the very few quibbles I have with the current state of the Gray Lady.

 

Perhaps we should start a petition?

 

Mark Myers is REALLY good at that.

 

Not sure exactly the area you are describing; care to post a reference photo?

 

I think he means the flat back face inside the rings. Here it is before the latest restoration, where it IS copper:
https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/smithsonian-model/ent_smithsonian_33.jpg

And here it is now, with the back face painted hull gray:
https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/smithsonian-model-june16/ent-smithsonian-june-2016-26.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/smithsonian-model-june16/ent-smithsonian-june-2016-10.jpg

 

Yeah, that doesn’t look right. I’ve always believed the back was the same colour as the rings.

 

Also you can see what appears to be copper on the flat back face inside the rings at 1:03 in the video from the vault...



Since it was there in the episodes it is a bit surprising that they did something this noticable differently.

 

What they said. It's even more visible at 2:26...